Packaging machine



Aug. 25, 1953 Filed April 23, 1952 H. L. BARTELT PACKAGING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 mm l urod L @our-Z air Aug. 25, 1953 H. L. BARTELT 2,649,673

PACKAGING MACHINE Filed April 23, 1952 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 CATTQQMBV Aug. 25, 1953 H. BARTELT PACKAGING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 5.

F'iled April 23, 1952 5, 1953 L. BARTELT 2,649,673

PACKAGING MACHINE Filed April 23, 1952 A I 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 Cjhwomsy Aug. 25, 1953 H. L, BARTELT PACKAGING MACHINE Filed April 25, 1952:

8 Sheets-Sheet 6 NVBNTO Aug. 25, 1953 H. BARTELT 2,649,673

PACKAGING MACHINE Filed April 23; $hets-$heet 7 5, 1953 H. L. BARTELT 2,649,673

PACKAGING MACHINE Filed April 25, 1952 s sheets-sheet 8 T'TORNEDW Patented Aug. 25 1953 UNITED PATENT OFFICE Harpld L. Bartelt, Rockford, Ill assiguor of fortyfive 11 ven t a d E.- ert Application April 23, 19-52, Serial No. 283,962 5 Claiip's- (01-53-4 This inv ntion r lat to acka in i eeliines .of the general type ,disclqsed .eppend ns application S ial No- 9.8. .69 le Juli .13. 949 for converting strip material into a row of spaced bags supported open end up and .advaneed step by step to present each Jga successively to and dw ll th sam in a s ation at wh ch a mer or material is deposited in the has a 51 quent station at which the .bag is closed by a seal.

One object is to Substantially increase the production capacity of a machine of the above character without correspondingly increasing the cost orcomplexity of the machine.

A more d iled object is to in rea e t eheis i o the b ss formed from th tri ma e ial and deposit charges of material into the upper and lower half portions of each bag in separate filling operations between which these portionsareseparated by a cross-seal which is later severed intermediate its edges .to sepahate the filled and sealed packages.

A further object is .to provide novel mechanisms for handling the :bags to insure proper opening when presented to ;,the fillers, full and accurate closure, and sealing thereof so as to form neat rectangular packages.

The invention also resides in the novel and simple character of the bag;spreading;1nech anism a d t s pners for holdin t e bas menerly positioned throughout their advance.

Other obieetsandadvantas s of t e in ent on will become apparent trom ;the;f ollo wi ng detailed description taken in connection with the accgmpanying drawings, in which Figure 1 isa frontelevationaliview of the improved machine.

F 2 is a mentary pers ect ve il u t a in the steps in the formationlof thebag.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the ,double .Joag before separationof the parts.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the finished pair of bags.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan viewof the feed rolls and the cut-off station with certain parts broken away and shown in section.

Fi 6 is a a n ar e s ectiv .vi w of the strip severin mechanisrn.

F s. 7 and ,s a e f a m nta -s que .teke respectively along the lines =|.'l and v. 88 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 9 is a -.fragmentary. sectienal Lview taken alon the line -99 of -.:Fig. 7 .andshowim the .filling station in elevation.

Figs. .10 and :11 ,are fragmentarycrosssections taken along the lines. I'llll] and l;l..l;l OfiF'ig. '9

showing the filling spent in diiferent positions.

Fig 12 is a fragmentary sectional View similar to Fig. 11 showing another position of the filling spout.

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary perspective view of the mechanism for actuating the filling spout.

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary view of the stops for actuating the filling spout.

Figs. 15 and 16 are fragmentary sections taken respectively along the lines -45 and iii-l6 .of Fis- Generally stated, the improved p ckaging machine comprises a mechanism for converting a flexible strip ,H of heat scalable wall material into a succession of bags IjZ delivered one by one at a leading station l3 to a carrier M for gripping and supporting the bags in spaced relation open end up and advancing the same edgewise step by step through a f lling station i5, a station 16 at which a horizontal seal IT is formed across the center of the bag, a second fillingstation IS, a closing station it where a top seal 20 is formed, and a cut-off station 2! where the cross seal l! is severed intermediate its edge to divid the bag into separate sealed packages 22 and 23 containing the charges of material deposited therein vat the respective filling stations. Finally, the separated packages, while still attached to the carrier, are moved to an unloading position 24 (Fig. ;1) wherethey are released from the carrier into a chute ,25 and directed into a storage re- .ceptacle.

The various mechanisms for operating on the st ip .LI and the'bass ,l 2 are mounted on an elongated horizontal frame 26 and operated in timed .relationto each other from a horizontalcamshaft 2:1 driven continuously by a motor 28 through a suitable speed reducer. A disclosed more fully in the aforesaid application, the strip ll, as unwound from a supply roll 29, is folded along its longitudinal center'line by a suitable former 30 and flattened between rolls 3! as it is led along caguideway ,andinbetween two feed rolls ;3 2 that grip Opposite walls of the folded strip. Through suitablelmechanism driven by the motor 28, the feed rolls 132 ,are turned periodically to advance the ;folded strip lendwise in increments equal to .the-widthof thebags to be formed. The actuatingmechanism may beof the type formingthe subject matterof an applicationof Kenneth R. Johnson, ,Serial vNo. 261,226, filed December 12, @951, said mechanism includinga yieldable link :33 ;(Fig. ,1), a crank 33*, a oneway clutch 53 and amagnetic .brake 33 and operating in cycles timecls-by aswitch 34 actuated bya cam 34 on the shaft-2 I.

At a station which may be in advance of the rolls 32, the folded strip passes between shoes 36 one heated to a sealing temperature and one movable with a follower 3I actuated by a cam 38 during dwelling of the strip to form a cross seal 39. The upper end of the latter stops short of the edges of the folded strip leaving edge portions 41 which are split and held apart by a bar of V-shaped cross section. The latter and an extension 4! thereof (see Fig. 6) terminate beyond the rolls 32 at a line 42 of cut-off at which a knife 43 carried by a follower 44 and actuated by a cam 44 moves trans versely of the strip and coacts with a backing blade 45 and the end 46 of the stripper to sever the edge portions 41 and the seal 39 intermediate its edges and thus separate the leading pocket from the remainder of the strip to form one bag I2. At this time, the bag is disposed in the loading position I3 above referred to and the edge portions 4! are held apart by a splitter blade 48.

In each advance of the folded strip, the leading edge thereof formed by the previous cut-off operation is received between the vertically spaced jaws 49 of a gripper 50 then dwelling in the loading position I3. A series of the grippers are equally spaced along an endless chain 51 extending around sprockets 52 and 53 to form the carrier I4 above referred to, the sprockets being mounted on the frame 25 and disposed in a horizontal plane. As best shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the fixed jaws 49 of each gripper are formed by a fiange on an upright plate 54 having an arm 55 secured rigidly to the chain 5!. A U-shaped spring 56 straddles and is bolted to the plate 54 and one leg thereof forms the movable jaw of the pair. A bar 51 of curved cross section lying alongside the plate 54 is suitably positioned by pins 58 and cooperates with an arm 59 to form a lever tiltable about a fulcrum 58 to separate both of the spring jaws 49 from the position preparatory to receiving the leading end of the folded and cross-sealed strip in the next advance of the feed rolls, a cam 60 (Fig. 1) acts on a follower lever 6| to rock the latter about a fulcrum 62 and move the end 63 (Fig. 7) thereof toward and against the arm 59 of the gripper at the loading station thus opening the latter as shown in Fig. 7. In the next advance of the folded strip, the leading and sealed edge of the strip is advanced in between the open jaws 49 of the gripper and the latter is allowed to close by the cam 60 just before the leading bag is out off from the end of the strip by the action of the cam 44 as described above. The bag is gripped i the loading position, the upper open end is preat widely spaced points and firmly held in upi 2 right position above a horizontal guide rail 64.

Through a suitable mechanism which may include a crank 65 (Fig. 1) on the shaft 2! and a Geneva movement 66, the sprocket 53 may be turned intermittently to advance the chain 5| through steps equal in length to the spacing of the grippers 50. Each movement occurs during a dwell of the folded strip I I so that during each advance of the chain, the last bag to be cut oil from the strip is carried out of the loading station I3 and a new gripper is moved around the sprocket 52 and opened in readiness to receive the end of the folded strip in the next advance of the latter. Since the upper edge portions 41 of the strip are held apart adjacent the cut-off line 42 by the bar 4I, these portions remain separated after cut-ofi and, in the next advance of the folded strip are transferred into straddling engagement with opposite sides of the blade 43 whose end is disposed close to the cut-off line and tapered somewhat to enter properly between the edge portions 47 as the end of the folded strip is advanced.

In the first step of. advance of the bag out of sented to the first filling station I5 beneath a filling spout 68 which is disposed in an opening between the end of the splitter blade 48 and a similar blade 59 mounted on the machine frame and engaging the edge portions 41 all the way to the second filling station I8. In the present instance the latter is spaced four steps ahead of the first filler I5 and includes a spout I0 disposed at the end of the blade 69.

Preferably, the two spouts 68 and ID are of the so-called clam-shell type adapted to receive successive charges of the material to be packaged and mounted for vertical movement into and out of the bag during which the spouts are respectively opened and closed. Referring now to- Figs. 9, ll, 12 and 13, the spout 58 comprises two clam-shell buckets II of channel cross section gradually tapering downwardly to a point and opening toward each other to form a closed and relatively elongated receptacle when the flanges abut each other as shown in Figs. 12 and 13. Near their upper ends the buckets are welded or otherwise secured to parallel rockshafts I2 and I3 projecting through and journaled in a block I4 on the end of an arm I5 which projects forwardly from a link I6. The upper and lower ends of the latter are joined through pivots I1 and I8 to the free ends of elongated parallel arms and I9 and which extend longitudinally of the machine between the two filling stations and are fulcrumed at 8| and 82 on an upright frame plate 83 beyond the second filling station Iii. A roller 84 on the end of the arm 19 (Fig. 13) rides in a channel 85 on the plate to guide the arms and maintain the lower end of the spout 58 when closed in the plane of the bag dwell in the filling station I5.

The arms I9 and 80 move downwardly by gravity and are raised by a cam 86 acting on the roller of a follower link 8! pivotally connected at its upper end to a lug 88 on the spout carrying arm 75. In the upper position of the arms I9 and 85, the lower or sharpened end of the spout 68 is disposed as shown in full in Fig. 9 slightly above the upper open end of the bag dwelling in the station I5 with its edge portions 41 held apart by the bars 48 and 69. As the spout is lowered, the lower end of the spout enters between the bag portions 41 and the bag walls to separate the latter.

In the upper position of the spout, the upper open end is disposed immediately below and alined with the lower end of a tube 89 by which the charges of material to be packaged are delivered into the spout. The material is stored in a hopper 90 and by suitable mechanism indicated generally at 82 and of well known construction is measured out and delivered to the tube periodically and in timed relation to the movements of the spout.v Proper timing is achieved by driving the filler mechanism from a part 9| on the camshaft 27.

Means is provided for opening the spout 68 after entry into the bag at the filling station and closing the spout as it is retracted from the bag. In the present instance, this means utilizes the up and down motions of the spout support and preferably operates with an over-center action so that the spout is held either open or closed durin its movements into and out of the bag. For this purpose, an elongated lever 92 lies alongside the spout support 75 and near its forward end is secured to the rockshaft '13 which forms the lever fulcrum. The outer short end '93 of the lever is pivotally connected at 96 to one end of a link 8 inclined upwardly and across the dividing line between the buckets 1| and pivoted at 86 to the free end of a crank 95 fast on the other rockshaft i2 and of a length equal to that of the arm 93. By rocking the lever 32 vertically through a small angle a, the rockshafts l2 and "s3 and the buckets H will be swung be-- tween the open and closed positions shown in Figs. 11 and 12. The spout closing movement is limited by engagement of the bucket edges while the stop @l engages the lever 92 to determine the extent of the Opening movement.

To open and close the buckets H with a snap or over-center action, the rear end portion of the lever 82 constitutes one link of a toggle 98 including a second link 99 pivotally connected at act to the lever and at its. other end tothe end of an arm it! pivotally suspended from the support 55. A contractile spring I92 acts on the arm lei to hold the toggle flexed with the spout 68 either open or closed. Flexing of the toggle links Q2, 93 past dead center position is effected by opposed stops Hi2 and $83 adjustably mounted in vertically spaced relation on a projection to l extending forwardly from the plate 83. Near the upper limit of the retracting movement of the spout $58, a pin m5 on the lever 92 encounters the stop Hi2 thus causing the lever to be swung downwardly relative to the arms 75 and past the dead center position in the final retracting movement of the spout. Thereupon the lever is swung downwardly on over-center as shown in phantom in Fig. 14 until the buckets ll come into full engagement at their adjacent edges as shown in Fig. 12. In a similar way, the stop I63 blocks the movement of the pin IE5 as the arms it, at are swinging downwardly to lower the spout '68 into the bag, the toggle links being flexed upwardly and then moved over-center as shown in full in Fig. 14 to a position against the stop 91. The spout is thus opened allowing the charge I06 of material carried thereby as shown in Fig. 12 to fall by gravity into the bag as shown in Fig. 11.

The spout it? at the second filling station I8 is constructed, mounted, and actuated in the same manner as the spout 88 and the parts thereof are indicated by the same but primed reference numerals. Since the link 16 is secured to the arms 19 and 8G closer to the fulcrums SI and 82, the spout 1!] is moved through a correspondingly shorter distance and therefore enters the open end of the bag to a point above the cross seal I'i. Thus, the spout moves up and down between the positions shown in full and dotted outline in Fig. 9 and receives successive charges of material from the hopper 90' the same as the spout first described.

After the second advance of the bag after receiving the charge I06 at the station I5, the bag dwells in the station [6 at which the cross seal I! is formed by momentary eempression of the center part between heated shoes i0! mounted as shown in Fig. 15 on the upper ends of levers m8 fulcrumed intermediate their ends at lot with the lower ends bearing against cams I It; on the shaft 21. The lower half portion of the bag is sealed closed thus isolating the charge H36 of material therein.

After the second advance of the bag following formation of the seal I1, the bag dwells in the second filling station [8 where the spout 10: is as described above lowered to a point abovethe seal and opened to deliver a second charge- 52 of material into the upper half portion of' the bag. As before, the spout is retracted outv of the bag and closed before the next advance. of the bag carrier.

The bag containing the two charges I05 and, H2 is then advanced to the station I9 at which heated shoes H3 are constructed and mounted in the same manner as the shoes iii? are pressed together into engagement with the upper end portions of the bag by the action of a cam lid on followers H5. The top seal 2% thus formed overlaps the previously unsealed edge portions 47 so that the upper compartment of the bag containing the charge H2 is closed.

At the subsequent dwell position of the bag, the upper and lower portions containing the charges tilt and i 52 are separated from each other by severing the seal it intermediate its edges and along a horizontal line i I6. This is accomplished by knife blades ill and H8 (Fig. 14) movable horizontally past each other from the positions shown in full to those shown in phantom. The blades are mounted on the upper ends of levers iii fulorumed at I20 and interconnected by a link iii. A follower I22 rigid with one of the levers rides the periphery of a cam I23 and is moved thereby to advance and retract the knives ii? and H8 while the bag is dwelling in the station 25. v

The packages thus separated and containing the charges we and H2 are separated from each other but remain held'by the two clamps in vertically spaced relation. In the next advance of the chain carrier, the two packages move through a side opening I24 in the chute 25 at which time the arm 59 of the clamps engages a roller I25 and is pressed inwardly thereby in the continued advance of the carrier. The clamping jaws 49 are thus separated as shown in Fig. 8 thus releasing the two packages and allowing the same to fall off from the carrier and down through the chute. After passing out of engagement with the roller 525, the jaws 49 close together and are carried along the other run of the chain- 50 back toward the loading position.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the production capacity of the former machine has been doubled simply by increasing the width of the folded strip H and by adding the sealing station it, the second filling station 18, and the cutting .station 2!. The added mechanisms are actuated and properly timed from the camshaft 21 so that the increase in capacity is large as compared to the increased cost of the machine.

The mechanism for raising and lowering the dispensing spouts 68 and 10 forms the subject matter of a co-pending application of Charles B. Harker, Serial No. 311,905, filed September 27, 1952.

The mechanism for opening and closing the spouts constitutes the subject matter of a copending application of Charles B. Harker, Serial No. 313,145, filed October 4, 1952.

I claim as my invention:

1. A packaging machine, having in combination, means for supporting a row of spaced bags open end up and advancing the bags step by step to present each bag to and dwell the same in a plurality of positions uniformly spaced along the path of travel of the bags, mechanism disposed at one of said positions to deposit in the bag at such position a charge of material partially filling the lower half portion of the bag, means operable on the bag dwelling in a succeeding position to seal the bag closed along a line disposed between the top and bottom edges and above the level of the material in the bag, filling mechanism operable to deposit into the bag dwelling in a subsequent one of said positions a charge of material partially filling the remaining upper part of the bag, means at a subsequent position to form a seal across the open end of the bag, and mechanism at a subsequent position to divide the bag into two separate parts along a line intermediate the edges of said cross seal whereby to preserve the seal at the upper end of the lower bag portion and at the lower end of the upper bag portion.

2. A packaging machine having, in combination, a plurality of gripping devices each comprising vertically spaced horizontally opening clamps adapted to receive and grip the upper and lower portions of one edge of a bag whereby to support the bag open end up, means for supporting said devices and advancing the same as a group step by step to present the bag carried by each device successively to a loading position, a filling station, a cross-sealing station, a second filling station, a top sealing station, a cut-off position, and an unloading position, means operable in timed relation to the advance of said devices to open each device dwelling in said loading position, close the device before the end of such dwelling, and then open the device during dwelling thereof in said unloading position, mechanisms at said stations for depositing a charge of material into the bottom of the bag, cross-sealing the bag above such, material, depositing a second charge of material into the bag above the cross-seal, and sealing the top of the bag, a cutter at said cut-oil station including elements engageable with the ful1 width of the bag along a line disposed between said clamps and the edges of the crossseal of the bag, and mechanism operable during dwelling of the bag in said cross-sealing position to actuate said elements and cut the bag into two parts.

3. A packaging machine having, in combination, a plurality of gripping devices each comprising vertically spaced horizontally opening clamps adapted to receive and grip the upper and lower portions of one edge of a bag whereby to support the bag open end up, means for supporting said devices and advancing the same as a group step by step to present the bag carried by each device successively to a loading position, a filling station, a cross-sealing station, a second filling station, and a top sealing station, means operable in timed relation to the advance of said devices to open each device dwelling in said loading position and close the device before the end of such dwelling, and mechanisms at said stations for depositing a charge of material into the bottom of the bag, cross-sealing the bag above such material, depositing a second charge of material into the bag above the crossseal, and sealing the top of the bag.

4. A packaging machine, having in combination, means for supporting a row of spaced bags open end up and advancing the bags step by step to present each bag to and dwell the same in a plurality of positions uniformly spaced along the path of travel of the bags, mechanism disposed at one of said positions to deposit in the bag at such position a, charge of material partially filling the lower half portion of the bag, means operable on the bag dwelling in a succeeding position to seal the bag closed along a line disposed between the top and bottom edges and above the level of the material in the bag, filling mechanism operable to deposit into the bag dwelling in a subsequent one of said positions a charge of material partially filling the remaining upper part of the bag, and means at a subsequent position operable to form a seal across the open end of the bag.

5. A packaging machine, having in combination, means for supporting a row of bags open end up and advancing the bags along a predetermined path, mechanism acting successively on each bag during its progress along said path to deposit a charge of material partially filling the lower half portion of the bag, to seal the bag closed along a line disposed between the top and bottom of the bag, to deposit a charge of material partially filling the remaining upper part of the bag, and to form a seal across the open end of the bag, and mechanism at a subsequent position of the bag along said path to divide the bag into two separate parts along a line intermediate the edges of said cross seal whereby to preserve the seal at the upper end of the lower bag portion and at the lower end of the upper bag portion.

HAROLD L. BARTELT.

No references cited. 

